Interesting Effect is Intriquing Me
I've been using a blue clay from Ohio that a customer brought me many years ago. It melts at stoneware temperature, so I've used it to line the inside of some pots in my wood-fired kiln, and lately, I've used it on the outside of some "green" (unfired) pots, brushing it on the outside and carving designs through the blue clay. It's a high iron clay, much like the traditional Albany slip clay used on pots of the past.
My latest firing had several pieces in it like this, and also a few bowls just glazed inside and out in the Ohio clay. The bowls were fired in the front of the kiln, where it reached the highest temperature: cone 14 or so (2,530 degrees F.) This last firing was in reduction for most of the firing after reaching about 1,800 degrees, and I sealed up the kiln at the end of the firing, stoking with three large pine logs, so it was in reduction during much of the early cooling down process.
The bowls in the front of the kiln were toasty on the outside and very unusual on the inside. I love the texture, kind of like animal skin. I've not seen anything like it, so I'm thinking I'll try again to get the same look. There's probably a name for this technique, so if anybody knows, let me know. Here's a few pictures:
My latest firing had several pieces in it like this, and also a few bowls just glazed inside and out in the Ohio clay. The bowls were fired in the front of the kiln, where it reached the highest temperature: cone 14 or so (2,530 degrees F.) This last firing was in reduction for most of the firing after reaching about 1,800 degrees, and I sealed up the kiln at the end of the firing, stoking with three large pine logs, so it was in reduction during much of the early cooling down process.
The bowls in the front of the kiln were toasty on the outside and very unusual on the inside. I love the texture, kind of like animal skin. I've not seen anything like it, so I'm thinking I'll try again to get the same look. There's probably a name for this technique, so if anybody knows, let me know. Here's a few pictures:
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